Christian Bay (1921 – May 8, 1990) was a Canadian
political theorist
A political theorist is someone who engages in constructing or evaluating political theory, including political philosophy. Theorists may be academics or independent scholars.
Ancient
* Aristotle
* Chanakya
* Cicero
* Confucius
* Mencius
* ...
and the chairman of the
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
department at the
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...
in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. He formed the ideological basis for the
Caucus for a New Political Science of the
APSA and an important critique of
Behavioral Politics. He is associated with
Normative
Normativity is the phenomenon in human societies of designating some actions or outcomes as good, desirable, or permissible, and others as bad, undesirable, or impermissible. A Norm (philosophy), norm in this sense means a standard for evaluatin ...
Political Science and the
New institutionalism
Neo institutionalism (also referred to as neo-institutionalist theory or institutionalism) is an approach to the study of institutions that focuses on the constraining and enabling effects of formal and informal rules on the behavior of individual ...
approach of politics.
Bay was born in
Oslo
Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
and received his Ph.D. at the
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...
in 1959, with his book ''The Structure of Freedom'' serving as his doctoral dissertation. This work was a psychological study of the quest for freedom and later that year earned him the
Woodrow Wilson Foundation's 1959 book award.
Bay went on to teach in the United States at
Stanford University
Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
and the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
before becoming chairman of the political science department at the University of Alberta in Edmonton in 1966. He joined the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
faculty in 1972 and retired in 1988. He died on May 8, 1990, of pneumonia at Toronto Western Hospital.
References
External links
Christian Bay archival papersheld at th
University of Toronto Archives and Records Management Services*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bay, Christian
1921 births
1990 deaths
Norwegian political scientists
Norwegian emigrants to Canada
Academic staff of the University of Alberta
University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty
University of Oslo alumni
Academic staff of the University of Toronto
Norwegian expatriates in the United States
20th-century Canadian political scientists
Naturalized citizens of Canada
Stanford University Department of Political Science faculty